Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio
While attached to the Sun and Moon sword, Furuhashi Sakurakyu followed Kimura Kazuki quietly. Her care-free chattering had gradually reduced along the way, and she stayed unusually silent.
When they arrived at his place, she quickly scanned through the room. Finally, she said in a rather disgusted tone, “This is where you live?”
She was not born with a silver spoon in her mouth, but, at the very least, she came from a middle-class family. Even though Harashin was not one of the richest men, the Furuhashi family was still pretty loaded. Hence, her marriage to Harashin provided her with a comfortable and hedonistic lifestyle.
Objectively speaking, she reckoned that she was not that finicky with her living environment.
Therefore, she was stunned when she entered the room. After a brief silence, Furuhashi Sakurakyu asked, “Can I return to Kageyama Park, please? I’m afraid that this room will trigger my claustrophobia.”
Kimura Kazuki replied calmly, “Instead of staying in that jade pendant, this room is a better option for you.”
“Maybe I can wander around the room freely if I am at the Nakagawa’s residence... What do you think?”
Kimura Kazuki answered her with silence. Indeed, the environment of his place was mediocre, but his room was furnished with basic furniture such as tables, chairs, a few beds, a toilet, and everything else. He was always a clean freak, so his room did not carry any strange odor.
He decided to ignore her. After all, she would eventually get used to staying at this place.
“Let’s move to another place, shall we?” she was definitely not going to let him get away with this. Accustomed to living in luxury apartments and mansions, she thought that this tiny room was intolerable. “Before I died, I remembered that there was an apartment that was still under construction at the Weier Road in Tokyo Bay. I think that the construction should be done by now, and if I’m not mistaken, the rental is rather cheap, only about 100 thousand yen a month.”
Kimura Kazuki sat down, took out some paper and a pen, and started to sketch the Spirit Tranquilizing Formation that he memorized earlier. Upon listening to her suggestion, he replied, “The latest monthly rental for that Weier Apartment is almost 1.5 million yen. The rate you’re talking about is outdated by 10 years.” He did not intentionally do any research about the apartment. Still, the Weier Apartment was one of the hottest topics in the city since it was well known as the most luxurious apartment in Japan. Sometimes, even the students at the school would talk about it. There was no way that he could be ignorant of this piece of information.
“1.5 million shouldn’t be a problem for you, right?” Based on her observation, Kimura Kazuki was evidently a capable man who could generate that amount of money with ease.
“Right now, I am still a student, and I intend to focus on my academics. As for money, I merely wish to earn enough to make ends meet,” he said in an indifferent tone. For him, he only needed his job to sustain himself during his years of being a student. Besides, he was only at the beginning of his practice. He wished to receive some handsome rewards by performing exorcisms for wealthy men, but his current social circle was too limited for him to obtain a job like this. He needed time to expand his network.
When people came across a ghost, they would usually hire the monks from the temples or the Onmyoji and witches of the shrine for the exorcism. Who would turn to a high schooler for help? Even when he was introduced to Nakagawa Akira by her own son Aokiji, she was skeptical about his capability.
“Argh! I should’ve bought a few properties under my own name back then!” Seeing that she had failed to persuade Kimura Kazuki, Furuhashi Sakurakyu rolled back and forth on the bed. Abruptly, she rolled off the bed as it was too small and fell onto the floor. The pain was nothing compared to the sense of humiliation.
Kimura Kazuki watched as she slowly stood up, but with no intention to tease her. Straightforwardly, he said, “Alright, that’s it. I didn’t bring you here to discuss living spaces. Tell me what your wishes are, and I’ll help you fulfill them to achieve your ascension to the afterlife.”
He repeated the explanation to Furuhashi Sakurakyu all over again.
When he was done, she pouted, “No, I don’t want to go to heaven. I want to stay in the mortal world.”
Kimura Kazuki shook his head in disagreement and explained, “No, you can’t. If your obsessiveness continued to be unfulfilled, it will mess up your mind in the long run and these twisted thoughts will transform you into a wraith. I can’t let that happen, and I certainly can’t let you stay here with humans.” Her apparition remained between the real and the virtual world because her soul was kept in check by the Spirit Tranquilizing Formation.
“Then, you can just exorcise me when I turn into a wraith,” the idea flashed across Furuhashi Sakurakyu’s mind as she said it out loud. She reckoned that her wishes were easy to fulfill, and she would have to ascend to heaven soon, which was against her intention. She was still very fond of the human world, especially her four darling daughters. It had been ten years since she last saw them, and she was clueless about their well-being.
Kimura Kazuki stared at her in silence and simply shook his head, indicating his disagreement with her idea.
“Fine...” she heaved a sigh of disappointment and continued, “My only wish is to achieve my daughters’ life goals.”
He was dumbstruck upon her request, and his hand that was holding the pen paused in midair. He had a habit of writing down the obsessiveness of the spirit, but he could not do the same for Furuhashi Sakurakyu.
He predicted that her obsessiveness would be related to her daughters, an impossible obsession to fulfill. He set down his pen and fell into deep contemplation.
Standing by his side, Furuhashi Sakurakyu could not read his mind, but she understood how ridiculous her wish was. She giggled awkwardly and said, “I know my true wish is difficult to achieve, so I shall reduce the difficulty.”
Upon hearing this, he knew that she was toying with him. He stared at her with a straight face.
She cleared her throat and said, “You can also help my daughters achieve their short-term goals. That’s all that I am asking for.”
Kimura Kazuki continued to stare at her. He gently nodded after he noticed the sincerity in her eyes. She did not look like she was bluffing. Hence, he picked up his pen and began writing. However, he failed to notice her flickering eyes and guilty face as she stared at his back.
She lied.
Frankly, her one and only obsessiveness were for Harunaka to gain her own fame and popularity among the kendo industry.
After all, the reason she brought Harunaka to Sakura Kyu Kendo Gym back then was for her to be Satorusa’s apprentice. Since then, her mind had been occupied with Harunaka and the kendo gym. When she died in the car crash, her greatest regret was not being able to witness Harunaka standing proudly and triumphantly as the champion in a kendo competition.
Kimura Kazuki would never expect her to lie because both of them knew that she would be sent to hell for telling lies.
In fact, it was not exactly a lie. Harunaka was simply dividing one wish into four and presenting her sole wish as four wishes. Kimura Kazuki failed to realize that he could actually fulfill her obsessiveness merely by helping Harunaka to make her mark in the kendo industry.
He closed his book after he was done with writing down her obsessiveness. He looked at the time and realized that it was only one o’clock in the afternoon. Therefore, he left his seat and exited his room, taking Furuhashi Sakurakyu with him.
“Where are we going?” she asked with interest when she noticed that they were heading out. She would have felt too depressed to stay in this tiny room.
“Akihabara,” Kimura Kazuki replied succinctly, “We are going to get a computer.”
“Oh!” she exclaimed gleefully, “Perfect! It seems like you are finally thinking straight! By the way, buy me a phone too.”
He threw a glance at her and said casually, “The computer is not for you. I am buying a computer for my work.”
After a few days of break, Kimura Kazuki realized he had to stop himself from procrastinating and find a new job as soon as possible.
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